Shielding regions for photonic integrated circuits

摘要

Described herein are methods, systems, and apparatuses to utilize shielding regions formed in photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Portions of layers of a PIC are selectively removed, and optionally, replaced with another material. These regions are formed to block stray light from interacting with optical components of the PIC, and therefore can prevent optical crosstalk and/or noise. Metal or another absorption/reflective material can be deposited in the place of the removed layer portions of the PIC to absorb or reflect light. Additionally, by depositing metal, RF isolation can be achieved by forming a ground plane, by forming a ground trace that shields a signal trace in an RF transmission line, or by placing a conductor which terminates electric fields between sensitive RF receivers and adjacent RF elements. Additionally the process operations required to perform isolation can also be used to change the thermal conductivity of devices and regions on a PIC.

主权项

1. A photonic integrated circuit, comprising:
a substrate; a buried oxide layer disposed on a first surface of the substrate; an active device layer disposed on the buried oxide layer; an optical transceiver including an optical transmission component and an optical reception component formed, at least in part, from the active device layer; and an etched region formed on the photonic integrated circuit and extending through the substrate, the etched region configured to optically and electrically shield the optical reception component from the optical transmission component.